Drills play
Drill: 2v2 Closeout From the Help Line
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 5 steps
About this play
Shell exposes the help-to-closeout sprint but rarely isolates it, which is why I run this 2v2 version on its own. Setup: two offense on opposite wings, two defenders, one ball. The on-ball defender guards the wing; the other has one foot on the help line in the paint, ball-you-man. The ball holds two or three seconds in triple threat so the helper has to prove his position, then skips to the far wing. The helper sprints out while the ball is in the air and closes out on the inside shoulder with the outside foot back; the on-ball defender sprints to the help line the moment the pass leaves. Hold, skip back, six to eight reps, switch. Common mistakes: cheating out of help before the pass, arriving upright, and closing out flat to the middle shoulder. Progression: a baseline drive after the catch so the other helper has to rotate, then the Villanova version with corners filled and a line rotating in. High school, youth with a walk-through. I learned it from Coach's Clipboard's wing help-side and skip-pass drill and Bob Huggins's sprint-to-help clinic on Championship Productions; give them a look for the live scoring version.
